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Sunday, December 14, 2008

A Simple Christmas...

I read a book this year by Sharon Hanby-Robie called A Simple Christmas. It was probably one of the best books I read all year, not only for the content but because I know I tend to complicate my favorite Holiday. The book is filled with ways to celebrate the Christmas holidays with some sense of calm and peace. There are so many ideas on how to choose what parties to say yes to, decorate the house and what traditions to keep and which to let go of. Re: decorating, I know I followed her advice and simplified. The decorations are simple, bright and cheery. The house looks festive without feeling cluttered which, for some reason, always bugged me. I still did 'my thing' outside and that's okay...if it isn't something that stresses me or my family out, it's okay to keep. (I wonder if my husband will ever figure out that my only criteria when buying a house is how good it will look decorated for Christmas...which explains my berry-red house!:-)

One of the things she suggests doing in the book is to ask each family member to fill in the blank to this statement: Christmas wouldn't be Christmas if I (or we) didn't_________________. I was so surprised with some of the answers I got from my family. My girls filled the blank with baking Christmas treats and delivering them to friends and neighbors, listening to Christmas music and watching old Holiday shows and movies and driving around town to look at lights with a hot cocoa. One more, which I'll write about next, is our "12 days" tradition. My husband wanted a relaxing home to come home to, Christmas music playing and just some fun family moments. Not one mentioned any gift on a wish list! Yippee!!!

Anyway, I can't recommend this book enough...for it's great tips and beautiful writing. Here it is 2 weeks until Christmas day and I feel so good...not stressed out. My family has noticed, for sure. We've done some baking, watched a lot of favorite Christmas shows and play music non-stop. The cards haven't gone out yet but they will tomorrow. Wrapping is started but not done, but that's okay. Shopping is mostly done and I'm hoping to start a new project just for me tomorrow.

I got lucky and found this book at T.J.Maxx for $3.99...and by the way, ALWAYS check the books at that store. I usually walk away with at least one!:-) Happy Sunday!